The Truth in Lies (The Truth in Lies Saga) (14 page)

“Very well, madam.  Is the gentleman here to try it on?”

“Um, no,” I mumbled.  “I have his measurements though.” 

“It’s a good start, but a suit like this really should be fitted to the owner.”  His smile was sweet as he instructed me.  “I can suggest a few tailors for you, if you’d like.”

“Thank you,” I replied, waving Olivia over.  She approached the store clerk and me with a curious look on her face. 

“You find something?” she asked.

“I think so,” I replied.  “I need Drew’s measurements.”

Olivia glanced at the suit the clerk was holding, while rummaging through her purse to obtain Drew’s sizes.

“I’ve never seen Drew wear anything like that,” Olivia scowled, handing the strip of paper to the salesman.

“I think he will like it,” I told her.  “Besides, it would bring out the blue in his eyes perfectly.”

The salesman looked over the sheet and returned the original suit back into position before retrieving the proper size. 

“It’s a waste of money if you ask me.  He’ll never wear it,” Olivia argued.

“It’s my money to waste, I guess,” I rebutted with a surge of venom.

Olivia shrugged.  “Andrew Wise doesn’t wear blue suits.  It’s not in his color profile,” she persisted.

“Did you say Andrew Wise?” the clerk asked.  He led us to the front desk, and hung the suit up on a rack located to the side of the counter.

“Yes, sir.  Do you know him?” I inquired.

He walked behind the counter and scanned the bar code on the label.  “Ah, yes, ma’am.  Mr. Wise frequents here quite regularly.  I do agree with the young Miss, though; this isn’t his usual style.”

Olivia nodded, her nose snarled in a smug grin.

“However, I do agree he’ll approve of the change.”

I grinned, triumphant. 

“And if you’d like, we can deliver your purchase to his usual tailor.  We have the information on file.  We often deliver his suits for him as a courtesy for being a loyal customer.”

“You can do that?” my voice rose with excitement.

“Of course, and I can also notify Mr. Wise that he has a suit waiting to be tailored as well.”

“Thank you so much.”  I pulled my wallet out of my purse, as he processed my transaction.

When the clerk quoted me the price, my jaw nearly hit the sales desk.  Never in my life had I spent so much money on one item before.  The most expensive item in my closet was a pair of Christian Louboutin knee-high boots I bought on sale from an outlet mall in Texas.  But this was different.  This wasn’t for me.  It was for Drew.  So I handed salesman my credit card without fail. 

“Waste of money,” Olivia grumbled, her arms crossed over her chest.

It bothered me that she was reacting in such a hateful manner.  This was a present.  There was no need to be hateful.  And if Drew didn’t like the suit, he could always return it and get something he liked better.

I signed the receipt and handed it back to the clerk.  He flashed me a witty grin and handed me my copy.  “Mr. Wise is a lucky man,” he stated, a kind smile reaching his eyes.

Olivia’s hands fell to her side with a slap.  She glared at the man like he had just threatened her first born child.  “I’m his girlfriend,” she growled.

The older gentlemen’s face paled at her reaction.  “I meant no disrespect,” he assured her.  He turned his attention back to me.  “I’ll contact Mr. Wise immediately.  Thank you for stopping by, and have a pleasant day.”

“You as well,” I replied.  I took Olivia by the arm and led her out the door.

“How rude of him to assume like that,” she bellowed. 

“He didn’t assume anything.  Now let’s go find you a
Drew
approved dress.  Okay?”

Store after store we searched for Olivia’s perfect dress.  What I liked, she didn’t, what she liked, I didn’t.  It was an ongoing cycle that was both tedious and annoying.  It didn’t matter if I liked something or not, because if Olivia wanted it, she got it.  I was so exhausted by the time we finished with the last store, I could hardly see straight. 

On our way out of the building, we passed a store I frequented.  Having bought nothing for myself, I decided I deserved a treat.  “I’m going in here,” I announced. 

Olivia shrugged.  “Fine, I guess we can,” she grumbled, acting put out by the fact that we weren’t entering a designer shop. 

Compared to all the stores she had dragged me through, this place felt soothing to me.  I honed in on a gray strapless dress, hanging on a rack near the center of the shop.  It was the perfect match for a black cardigan I had, and I wanted it. 

I balanced the bags I was carrying for Olivia on my arm, and searched the rack for my size.  Elated to discover they had my exact size, I reached for the hanger, intending to try it one, when I heard Olivia walk up behind me. 

“Oh, wow!  That’s perfect,” she squealed.  “Is that my size?”  She ripped the hanger from my hand.  “Oh, honey, this isn’t my size.  It’s too big.”

She pushed me to the side, thumbing through the rack.  I stared at her in shock.  “You want a dress from here?”

She glanced over her shoulder at me.  “It’s something you’d wear, is it not?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s not your usual style.”

“Drew’s always complimenting your clothes.  I know he’s being nice, but there’s some sincerity to it.  I thought I might try the McKenzie way for tonight.”

My shoulders dropped in defeat, sending the bags sliding down my arms.  Olivia squealed upon locating her size.  She dumped the bags she was carrying and darted off to the fitting room.  I released a deep sigh, thinking that would’ve been a great dress for me.  But she was right; we were there to shop for her.

She ended up buying the dress, and then forced me into one more store where she discovered a silky red lingerie set she
just
had to have. 

By the time we left the mall, it was well into the afternoon, and she was in a hurry to get home.  The entire way home, I had to endure the suffering of her planning what she needed to do in order to get ready for her
hot
date.  While she talked, I tried to envision how much wine was left in the bottle in the fridge, because to make it through the night, I was going to need it.

“I think I’m going to cut out of here tonight,” I told Olivia, as I unraveled the oversized curlers from her black locks.  The curls bounced upon release, hanging loosely around her thin shoulders.

“And where are you going to go?” she questioned, leaning forward to dab a little more lipstick over her already painted lips.

I shrugged, combing my fingers through her hair to break up the curls.  “Jared’s out of town and told me I could crash at his place if I wanted.”

Olivia sat at her vanity table dressed in the red lingerie she had purchased at the last minute during our shopping extravaganza.  The material was sheer, leaving nothing to the imagination.  It looked stunning with the bright red lipstick she shaded over her thin pout.  Her mahogany eyes, shaded with smoky colored shadows, peered at me through the mirror.  “Jared’s?  You have a key to Jared’s place?”

“No,” I replied.  “He told me where he keeps the spare.”

She waved me off with a fluttering roll of her eyes.  “Don’t be silly, Kenz.  If all goes the way I hope, we’ll be heading back to his place anyway.” 

I quirked an eyebrow at her.  “Have you ever been to his house before?  He always seems to come here.” 

“A couple of times.  He says he likes it better here.  Personally, if I had a house like that, I’d never want to leave.”  Olivia leaned forward, staring into the mirror, applying a third coat of mascara.  “He has this huge house on Longboat Key beach that overviews the gulf.  It’s gorgeous”

I sat down on her bed, leaning back on my hands as she continued to apply her makeup. 

“It sounds amazing,” I murmured.

She stood up from the vanity and lifted the gray dress off of her bed.  I was still shocked that she hemmed it up three inches when we got home.  In my opinion, the length was perfect just above the knee.  She unzipped the dress and stepped into it.  “It really is, and it would be perfect for a night like tonight.  Making love out on the balcony, while listening to the sound of the waves crashing in,” she purred.

“Sounds romantic,” I whispered, gulping back the tight feeling in my chest.  I stood up and helped her zip up the dress.

She stepped forward, looking at herself in the full length mirror.  Her face contorted as she examined every inch of herself.  She pressed down along the front of the dress, rubbing her hand over her taut stomach.  Taking a few steps back, she flung her head forward and then back, fluffing her thick coif. 

“Yeah, it does,” she whispered, smiling at herself in the mirror.  “So, see, you have no reason to leave.  This condo is all yours tonight,” she added.

I flopped back down on the bed, “Liv, there’s something I’ve been thinking about, and I want to talk to you about it.”

Olivia picked up the black sequin jacket from the bed and slipped it over her shoulders, bunching the sleeves up to her elbows.  “Don’t tell me, you want to move out?”

I cocked my head to the side, looking at her through her reflection in the mirror.  “How did you know?”

“Because we have this conversation every few days, it seems, and it’s getting old.  I don’t want you to move out.  I like having you here.  And who can beat living somewhere rent free?  You save money this way,” she argued.

I sighed, nodding in agreement.  “I know, but I feel like I stifle your life.  Maybe if I wasn’t here all the time, you and Drew wouldn’t be…well…you know.”

Olivia sat down beside me.  She opened the shoebox stationed on the floor and retrieved the pair of black ballet slippers I had chosen for her.

“Kenz, you said it yourself, Drew has been overworked lately.  And all couples go through lulls.  You have nothing to do with this.  So, please, stop trying to move out.”

Olivia slipped on the black ballet slippers over her feet, and stood up doing a twirl.  “How do I look?”

“Beautiful,” I whispered.  The door bell rang.  “And it appears your chariot has arrived, my lady,” I proclaimed.

“Can you let him in?  I need to do a few last minute things.”  Olivia wiggled her brows, a coy smirk lighting her pout.

“Of course I can.”  She bounced off to her bathroom, closing the door behind her.  I breathed in deep and pushed myself off the bed.

I meandered to the door, and opened it to find Drew leaning against the doorframe, tapping his fingers against the frame.  “So you
are
alive?  The Earth didn’t swallow you whole?  Ghosts didn’t snatch your body and drag you off to the pits of Hell?”

At first glance, he took my breath away.  He was wearing a light green sweater that conformed to his toned chest.   The V-neck dipped down enough to expose his collarbone.  His soft brown hair was rumpled, as if he had been tugging at it.  I learned when Drew tugged at his hair that meant only one thing; he had something on his mind.

His nose flared with each breath.  His teeth were clenched so hard that his jaw jetted against his skin.  Anger rolled off of him like a heavy fog.

“I’m alive, and I’m sorry I didn’t reply.  I knew you’d try to talk me out of buying you a suit, and I didn’t want you to.”

He pushed past me into the condo.  “You’re damn right I would’ve.  I’m not an idiot, Mickie.  I know how much that suit cost you, and I know you could’ve used that money on you.”

I closed the door.  When I turned around, Drew towered over me.  Fury surged through him causing his body to shake.  The vein in his forehead pulsed with each pump of blood.  I patted his cheek, feeling him tremble under my touch.  “Andy, please don’t be angry with me.  I wanted to get you something special.  If not to replace the ruined suit, then for the way you’ve made me feel over the past month.  This is my way of thanking you.”

“You didn’t need to buy a
three
thousand dollar suit to thank me.”  His stance softened and his breathing lightened under my touch.

“It wasn’t three grand, but it was worth it to me.  Although, according to Liv, you’ll probably want to return it.  She thinks you’ll hate it.” Realizing I was still touching him, I dropped my hand.  It tingled where his soft skin had been pressed against it.  I swallowed hard, and stepped around him, leaving him standing at the door.  Dropping onto the couch, I lifted my feet to the edge of the cushion, and wrapped my arms around my knees.  He turned around and followed behind me.

“I’m sure she’s wrong,” he sighed in defeat.  He sat down next to me, and rested his arm over the top of the sofa behind me.  “Craig seems to think I’ll love it.”

“Craig?”  I rested my cheek on my knees and tilted my head to look at him. 

Drew laughed as he tapped the tip of my nose.  “The salesman who sold you the suit.  He contacted me today to inform me that he had sent the suit to my tailor, and they were awaiting my call to make an appointment.  He was quite impressed by you.”

I covered my face in humiliation.  “Impressed by me?  Impossible.  I was like a fish out of water there.  And Liv kept telling me that I needed to go with a different style, but Andy, that suit is something I could see you in. 
But if you don’t like it, please return it.  It won’t hurt my feelings,” I rambled.

Amusement played over his manly features, but he never once laughed.  The soft crinkles at the corner of his eyes deepened with enjoyment of my near breakdown.  “Mickie, I’ll love the suit, and coming from you makes it even more special.  And yes, he was impressed by you.  He said you had an eye for quality, and any man would be lucky to have a beauty such as you by his side.”

I smacked his leg.  “Oh, Andy.  You’re just being silly now.”

“I’m ready,” Liv announced from behind us.  We both stood up to face her.  She had changed her shoes from the ballet slippers to a pair of red stilettos that I was certain would match the lingerie under her dress.

“How do I look, Andy?” Olivia asked with a girlish giggle.

Drew snarled.  “Olivia, please don’t call me that.”

Olivia threw her arms in the air.  Her giggle faded into the wind.  “Why is it that Kenz can call you that, but I can’t?”

“She knows how much I hate that name as well, but it’s a joke between us.  You know that,” Drew deflected.

“Whatever,” Olivia pouted.

I stepped forward.  “Liv, if it’s that big of an issue to you, I’ll stop calling him that.  I never meant any harm.  I’m sorry.”

Olivia’s lips turned into a smile.  Drew’s voice was hard and determined as he replied, “No.  This is our friendly joke. I see no reason in changing it.”

The tension in the room felt awkward.  I was caught between Olivia and Drew and had no idea how to fix things.

I turned back to Drew as a compromise formed in my head.  “We’ll keep it as a private joke,” I suggested.  “I won’t call you Andy publically anymore.  You really hate that name anyway.”

“Doesn’t matter.”  His answer came swift and cold.  He cut his eyes to Olivia, his jaw tight and his eyes dark. “You ready, Olivia?”

She cut me a scandalized look as she replied, “I’m more than ready.”

“Have a great night, you two.  You deserve to have some fun,” I said with false enthusiasm. 

Drew gave me a full body hug.  My insides exploded being pressed so close to him.  “Don’t stay up too late watching bad television.”

I laughed, hugging him back.  “I won’t.”

“And if you decide to stay the night at Jared’s, will you please text me, so I won’t worry about you?” Olivia included.

Surprised by her comment, I reacted automatically.  “Um, I thought you told me that wasn’t necessary?”

“Oh, it’s not. I just want to know if you change your mind.”  Her mouth tilted into a smirk, and she winked at me.  Her behavior was making no sense to me. 

“Um, sure, okay,” I replied.

She looked at Drew and smiled.  However, that smile was not returned.  The look in Drew’s eyes went from frustrated to rage.  His expression was dark and menacing.  I almost feared letting Olivia leave the house with him. 

“Anyway, don’t wait up,” Olivia crooned. 

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, unable to pull my focus off of Drew.  His face had turned an odd shade of red, and the pulsing vein in his forehead looked like it was about to explode. 

Trying to lighten the mood, I said the first thing that popped into my head.  “Um, Drew, make sure you don’t keep Liv out past curfew.
”

“He better keep me well past curfew,” Olivia replied, hooking her arm through his. “Right, Drew,” she coerced.

“Sure,” he replied through gritted teeth.

“Well, goodnight, you two,” I said in a soft whisper.

“Don’t wait up,” Olivia repeated, pulling Drew to the door.

“Goodnight, Mickie,” he seethed, his tone cold and callused. My heart sank down into my chest.  It had been ages since I felt the urge to cry, but there it was.  Thick sobs threatened to expose me for the fraud I really was. 

For several minutes after they left, I stood staring at the door, wishing I could fix whatever it was that set off Drew’s anger.  However, it wasn’t my place to fix anything for him. 

I headed to my bedroom, and plopped down on the bed.  The condo seemed rather lonely with Olivia and Drew gone.  Bored and hurting, I picked up my phone from the nightstand, checking my call log.  Drew had text me nearly every hour while Olivia and I had been in Tampa.  I read through his messages for the second time that day, smiling at how he seemed so demanding and yet so sincere with each passing message. 

With every message almost memorized, I settled my phone on the nightstand and reached for my book.  I was reading ‘The Great Gatsby’ for the millionth and one time.  I had fallen in love with the story of Gatsby and Daisy in high school.  I always wanted a man like Gatsby.  Sure, he was rich, powerful, and mysterious, but he was a true romantic at heart.  He spent every night waiting for the one that got away to come back to him.

As I started to read, my cell phone vibrated.  Part of me had hoped Drew was texting me. I glanced at my phone, and my insides knotted.  It was Nate. 

After our last encounter, we had both made it pretty clear we wanted nothing to do with each other.  Harsh words had been spoken, and things were left in the worst of ways.  I should’ve expected his call.  He had tried calling the night before, but deep down, I’d hoped it was a fluke. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he might want after all this time.

Marking my spot in my book, I laid the book beside me on the bed.  I inhaled deep, finding my nerve to answer the call.

“Hello,” I greeted.

“Hello, there.  I was beginning to think you’d fallen off the face of the earth.”

I laughed.  “Funny. You’re the second person who’s said that to me today.”

“That makes me feel a little better.  I think.”

“How so?” I questioned, my curiosity gaining the better of me.

“At least I’m not the only person you’re avoiding.”

“I’m not avoiding anyone,” I fibbed.  “I just have a bad habit of forgetting my phone lately.”

“I see,” he uttered.  “How are you?”

“I’m okay, I guess.  How ‘bout you?” 

“I’m good.  I just got back from Chicago yesterday.”

“Was it a good trip?”